The Love Conundrum
by Blue Sky Thinking
Summary: Victoria Moore is an accomplished astrophysicist, and has just moved in with Penny, obviously catching the attention of the boys... Especially, to everyone's shock including his own, Sheldon. Re-write of 'the Love Concept,' Sheldon/OC. (INDEFINITE HIATUS).
1. Chapter 1

_**This is a complete re-write of my original Big Bang Theory story, 'The Love Concept.' It's basically the same story, but with a few facts changed, and it will also be better paced and also better written. **_

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"Yes Sheldon. A roommate. I just can't afford to live in that apartment by myself anymore." Penny explained over Chinese food that Friday night, vintage game night.

"Then move." Sheldon said flatly. Everyone in the room gave him a look, Penny was by now too used to Sheldon being insulting to actually be insulted by it.

"Thanks for the affection Sheldon, but no. I like that apartment and I like being across from you and Leonard." She explained. Leonard looked up with a surprised smile.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah." She smiled back, making Leonard's chest flutter a little.

_**... … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …**_

"Hey, you must be Victoria." Penny held out her hand to woman in front of her, taking her pale hand in her tan one.

"Hello, it was Penny wasn't it?" She asked. Penny nodded. Victoria smiled, walking into the apartment as Penny led her in. "Call me Vicky, by the way, everyone does."

"Will do. Please sit down." Penny was being more formal than usual, she'd already met around fifteen or so applicants and all had either been annoying, boring or too loud for Sheldon to possibly be able to put up with.

This girl seemed nice enough, talked without going on, asked questions, made Penny laugh. The only thing bad Penny could possibly think about her was that Howard would have to be put on a leash.

Anyone would say she was very pretty, startlingly pretty even. She had that kind of Christina Hendricks- like full figure that made women green with envy, pale clear skin and grey-blue stormy eyes which shone from behind her thick rimmed spiceberry glasses. Her hair reached down to the middle of her back, it was blonde, but with a slightly ginger tinge to it.

"Oh I never asked you, what do you do for a living?" Penny asked, she'd made them both coffee now, and sat much more relaxed on the sofa as she sipped her hot drink.

"Oh..." Victoria swallowed he drink, obviously just realizing she hadn't mentioned it before. "Technically I'm an astrophysicist, but I work a lot more in engineering, I find it so much more fun than staring at whiteboards and rearranging nanoparticles in my head." She chuckled, before sipping her drink.

Penny's eyes were slightly wide for a second.

"You're perfect!" She finally exclaimed, making Victoria jump slightly and look at her with a confused expression.

"Sorry…" Penny said, noticing her outburst. "It's just my friends across the hall are physicists too, this is so weird." She smiled widely at Victoria, who smiled back.

"Axiomatically it's very probable… Given the fact the Caltech University is situated in Pasadena and this apartment building's proximity to the institution. " Victoria pointed out. Penny looked are her oddly for a moment before smiling again.

"Yeah, you're gonna fit right in here."

_**... … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …**_

Penny had to work that Saturday, so Victoria was left in to move all her stuff in alone, and Victoria had a lot of stuff. The elevator was out of order, much to her dismay, so she was forced to struggle with her box full of PlayStation 3 games up four flights of stairs.

Once they were placed inside, she breathlessly made her way back down to the lobby, and groaned at the sight of how many more boxes were left to take up. _'Heaviest stuff first, Victoria.'_

She next went to my _first _box of hardbacks and struggled back up to the apartment, before letting the box drop before the couch, cursing. She put her hands on he bare knees and bent over, trying to regain her breath.

"Well hello there…" She turned round quickly, slightly startled, met with the sight of a rather short young man with shaggy brown hair and red skinny jeans, standing beside another man, who again looked around Victoria's age and wore thick rimmed glasses.

"Oh hi there." She politely smiled, walking over and holding out her hand. They were rather surprised she was taking any notice of them, never mind being nice. "Do you live in the building?" She asked them both.

"I do, right across the hall actually." Leonard said, shaking the hand of the gorgeous bespectacled girl he supposed was Penny's new roommate. "I'm Leonard Hofstadter. This is-"

"Howard Wolowitz, it's a pleasure to meet you m'lady." Howard promptly took her hand and kissed Victoria's knuckles, making Leonard roll his eyes.

Victoria chuckled to herself at Howard's attempt at flirting.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Victoria Moore. Call me Vicky, everyone does."

"So, how long have you been in Pasadena?" Leonard asked, trying to make conversation and put an abrupt halt to Howard's flirting.

"Just a few weeks actually, I used to live in New York until I got offered a job at Caltech, I've been staying in a god awful hotel until I could find an apartment." She told them. Leonard and Howard were both surprised.

"Caltech? What do you do?" Leonard asked.

"I'm an astrophysicist, although I do find engineering fascinating and I have rather a knack for it." She winked.

Howard had to refrain from getting down on one knee and proposing to her right there, Leonard was also in awe of the woman. "Penny tells me you and you're roommate are physicists too." She said to Leonard.

"Yep, Howard's an engineer, and our friend Raj is an astrophysicist like you, my roommate Sheldon is in the same field as me, theoretical physics, although I'm experimental."

"Cool, I think Sheldon and I'll get along rather nicely." Victoria smiled brightly. Howard and Leonard gave her sideways looks.

"Don't bet on it…" Howard mumbled. Victoria decided to ignore this statement.

"Well, I have some heavy lifting to do. It was nice meeting you." She said, before making her way to the stairs.

"Wait, wait." Howard called. "Allow us to lend a hand…" He smiled in what he obviously thought was charmingly. Victoria wasn't about to pass up help.

"That would be awesome." She gratefully accepted, and the trio made their ways downstairs to the boxes. Howard picked one up, arms shaking from effort.

"What the hell's in here?" He asked, setting it down to the ground for a second. Victoria blushed slightly.

"My PS3 and my Xbox 360..." She said, looking embarrassedly at the ceiling. Howard cast Leonard a joyful look.

"Why do you have both?" Leonard inquired, picking up a box of shoes.

"Well, I think that the PS3's superior in every other way, but I love me a bit 'o Halo." She grinned, picking up a box of clothes. "Shall we?" She made her way upstairs and Leonard caught Howard sneaking a glance at her denim- clad backside. He rolled his eyes at his friend again.

"Thank you so, so much. I can't thank you enough." Victoria said genuinely, after the last box was in the apartment, hugging Leonard. "I'm buying you both dinner tonight." She hugged Howard who looked as if he could die happy in that moment.

"Sounds great. We can eat in our apartment, Penny usually comes over for dinner." Leonard smiled.

"Awesome, what time do you feel like eating?" She asked, unlacing her boots.

"Well it's Saturday, Saturday's Thai food night, we eat Thai food at six…" Leonard said, making Victoria arch her brow. Leonard noticed her trepidation.

"You'll understand when you meet Sheldon…" He explained.

_**... … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …**_

I spent the rest of the day unpacking, Penny came home from her lunchtime shift at four and once we finished finally finished unpacking, she was helping me make my bed.

"Thanks so much again for letting me be your roommate. This apartment rocks." I grinned as I put the pillowcase round my pillow.

"I just couldn't afford to live in it by myself anymore, and I had this room free so I thought 'why not?'" She realized she'd put a pillowcase on inside out, groaned and took it off again, making me chuckle.

"So, what was wrong with the other applicants?"

"How did you know there was anything wrong with them?" She asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Your look of relief when you saw a normal female in your doorway." I laughed, she did too.

"You got me there. But when I noticed how smart you are that really sealed the deal. It's kind of important I live with someone Sheldon can put up with."

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about this Sheldon. Sounds like kind of a pain."

"He is, but I think that deep down… Very, very, _very _deep down, he's kind of a sweetie-pie." She said, plopping the last pillow on the bed. I laughed.

"I look forward to meeting him."

_**... … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …**_

I walked into Leonard's apartment with armfuls of paper bags containing our Thai food. I dropped the bags down on the coffee table before straightening up.

"Wow, you have a great apartment Leonard." I smiled looking round, eyeing the whiteboards covered in equations at either end of the room, and the various models and figures on the book covered shelves. Something across the room particularly caught my eye.

"Oh my… GOD!" I squealed and ran the length of the room to the kitchen counter, on which sat a Cylon toaster. "Is this a freaking toaster that burns a picture of a freaking Cylon onto your freaking bread?" I squealed, eyeing it.

"You uh… You like Battlestar?" Leonard asked from the couch in a surprised tone.

"Uh, yeah. Can you tell?" I laughed to myself, walking back over to where everyone was sitting around the food and handing it to each other.

"I told you you'd like her." Penny smiled, passing me my plastic tray of seafood curry.

"I guess I am kind of a gee-"

"NO!" My bottom was centimeters from the sofa when the whole room shouted at me.

"What?" I asked worriedly, standing up and looking round.

"You uh… You can't sit there." Howard said to me. I frowned and look down at the stripy cushion.

"Might I enquire as to why?" I asked, sitting at the other side of the couch beside Howard.

"The wackadoodle." Penny said simply. I opened the lid of my food.

"What are you-"

I was cut off by the apartment door opening and two men walking in. One was a good foot shorter than the other, Indian, and abruptly stopped talking when he saw Penny and I. The taller one, who I guessed must be Sheldon, acted as if I didn't exist and sat in the place on the couch where the striped cushion sat.

"Hey Sheldon, Raj." Penny said. "This is _Doctor_ Victoria Moore. Victoria, this is Sheldon Cooper and Rajesh Koothrapali."

"Nice to meet you both." I smiled, shaking Raj's hand first, who nervously smiled at me before sitting himself in a desk chair. I then leaned over Howard to shake Sheldon's hand. He looked at it a moment, as though considering it, before shaking it.

"Doctor Sheldon Cooper." He stiffly introduced himself.

"A pleasure Doctor Cooper." I smiled widely, before digging into my food along with everyone else.

The rest of the evening went swimmingly, I talked with Leonard, Howard, Penny and Raj, although technically Raj only spoke to me through Howard. Sheldon didn't talk too much, and when he did it revealed more and more of his idiosyncrasies.

"So you're an astrophysicist? What made you want to get into that field?" Leonard asked me, once dinner was over.

"Well, since I was a child I've been fascinated by space, the universe, how we became, but the reason I never became just an astrologist was because I've always had a knack for the science of things, how things operate, which is why I've also been successful and dabbling in engineering. But, I have an above average intelligence too so it would be illogical for me not to apply it to a worthy profession." I shrugged, and sipped my Sprite.

"I agree." Sheldon piped up. "From what I have heard from you this evening your intellectual level is far beyond that of most women of your age, and you seem to have achieved far above average, especially considering the male attention that could've distracted you."

I raised my eyebrow confusedly.

"Male attention?"

"Well, you are obviously a more than sufficiently attractive woman. I would say that most men would even consider you, for lack of better words, 'stunningly beautiful.'" I breath caught in my chest slightly and I flushed, he seemed completely unaware as he checked his watch. He stood, apparently oblivious to the stunned silence. "Good night everyone."

He left the room and disappeared into what I guessed was his bedroom, and no one spoke for a good thirty seconds.

"Uh, what just happened?" Penny asked in a slightly higher pitched tone.

"I'm not sure…" Leonard said slowly, looking with a puzzled expression at Sheldon's door.

"I think Sheldon just… Complimented someone."

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"I still can't believe Sheldon said that." Penny said as we sipped wine in our pajamas that night.

"I was surprised too. But he didn't really seem to think much of it, it was more like I'm _technically_ beautiful, not that he actually finds me beautiful." I said with a frown, trying to work out this strange man I'd just met.

"I don't know, it's about time Sheldon showed a little humanity."

"Come on, he can't be that bad." I sipped my wine. "I think he's kind of cute actually." I smirked into the glass.

"Really? Sheldon?" Penny said with a slight grimace. "He's like one of those pointy eared guys on Star Wars…"

"I think you mean Vulcans, and I think you mean Star Trek. I'll be moving out now." I joked, going to stand up, and laughed and tugged me back.

"Shut up, I don't know about that stuff." She rolled her eyes and I chuckled. "So… Sheldon huh?"

"Hey. Don't look at me like that, I'm just saying he's not totally unattractive. None of them are unattractive really…" I considered and took another sip.

"Even Howard?" She said skeptically.

"He's a little skinny but he's pretty good looking in that geeky kind of way."

"Unfortunately he's also creepy in that pervert kind of way." She mumbled, and I burst out laughing.

"You have a point there." I said, wiping my eyes. I put my glass on the table and refilled it, before doing the same with Penny's. "So, which one are you doinking?" I asked bluntly. She choked on her wine a little and spluttered.

"None of them!" She exclaimed incredulously.

"Oh come on. You've been living here for a while now, and I've seen the way Leonard looks at you. He doesn't blush anymore but his neck becomes flushed when you speak to him, and he fiddles with his hands which is an obvious hallmark of nervousness." I paused and sipped my drink before continuing. "But why would he be nervous now? He's known you a while and sees you a lot, most days in fact, so the only two logical explanations would be that either he's sexually attracted to you or he's allergic to your perfume. I'd go with the former rather than the latter." I took another long sip of my wine, and chose to ignore Penny's incredulous expression, as I smirked into my glass, thoroughly pleased with myself.

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For the rest of the night, Leonard, Howard and Raj spoke freely without input from Sheldon.

"Did you guys realize how early Sheldon went to bed?" Howard pointed out looking at his watch.

"Yeah… That is weird." Leonard said, his brow furrowed.

"Maybe it had something to do with that there's a girl even more smoking than Penny living across the hall." Raj suggested.

"I wouldn't say she was _more_ smoking…" Leonard contradicted.

"Nah, she is." Howard dismissed. "I mean, Penny's hot but Vicky's like… Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider hot…"

Raj nodded in agreement.

The boys quickly forgot the original topic as they discussed varying degrees of hotness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Note: If you've never played Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, you can see Wonder Woman's fatality on Youtube if you're interested. **

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I awoke the next morning blissfully awake and rejuvenated. I'd slept brilliantly in my new bed, and the sun that poured in through the crack in my curtains dimly lit my room. It was a fair size, big enough for my bookcase, a small desk, a comfortable double bed and a wardrobe.

Someone gently knocked on my door. "Hey Vicky." As expected, it was Penny. "Fancy some fried eggs and toast?" She called.

"That would be great Penny, thanks." I told her, getting out of bed and quickly changing out of my pajamas and into a denim skirt and my Bob Dylan t-shirt.

I padded into the living room barefoot and the smell of eggs cooking hit my nostrils.

"Mmm, that smells good Penny." I said appreciatively.

"Did you sleep okay?" She asked, handing me my plate.

"Brilliantly. That bed is _so_ comfy." I told her honestly, and sat on the couch beside her. "What time is it?"

"11:15." She said.

"Good, I hate missing the chance to lie in, hope you don't mind."

"Oh please, I'd sleep all day if I could." She shrugged and I laughed a little.

"Do you have a shift today?"

"Yeah, just a couple of hours at lunch time. I'm sure Leonard wouldn't mind keeping you company."

"Fair enough."

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Sheldon was being very quiet again as he sat in his spot on the couch, Howard, Raj and Leonard all talked casually, although were aware of his general silence.

"Sheldon, are you okay?" Leonard asked, becoming concerned that Sheldon wasn't cutting in with some long winded fact or grammatical correction.

Sheldon looked up, his long fingers twitching slightly on the seam of the couch.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sheldon said. He however did not feel fine, he wasn't quite sure what was wrong with him, but he'd been thinking for most of the night and all of the morning about Victoria. He wasn't sure why, there were a whole myriad of other things that his brain _should've_ been contemplating. But it was as if there was this mental block created by this woman, her perfume, her hair, and her lips. He found himself fascinated by her lips, the colour, the shape, his mind began to wonder if they would feel as soft as they looked but he managed to block those thoughts, and succumb to blissful sleep.

Someone knocked at the door, and of course Leonard was the one to answer it.

"Hey." Victoria stood there, slightly awkwardly because of the absence of Penny. "I was wondering if I could hang out here for a while, Penny's working the lunch shift." She asked with a bright smile.

"Of course, come in." Leonard stepped back and allowed her to walk in the room. Sheldon's eyes inexplicably noticed the fact her legs were bare in her denim skirt, he looked away quickly at his lap.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, I was just getting so bored by myself." She said apologetically, sitting herself in one of the armchair's.

"Not at all. We were just playing Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe." Leonard sat back down in the other chair.

"Ooh, I'm a master of this game." She grinned widely. It was no lie, she had become unbeatable.

"I highly doubt that." Sheldon interjected. Victoria looked over at him challengingly, one eyebrow cocked.

"Oh yeah? Well I'll prove it with a round… Ya know, unless you're scared." She said in a low tone, with a slight smirk.

"I accept that challenge." Sheldon said right away, picking up his controller. Howard handed his to Victoria.

"He's ruthless." He warned.

"Good." She smiled back, settling herself back in the chair, controller poised in front of her.

"Choose your character." Sheldon said rather ceremoniously, after he chose Raiden. Victoria chose Wonder Woman, at which Sheldon scoffed.

"Your character choice has already disproved your statement of being a 'master' of this game." He condescendingly stated. Victoria laughed a little.

"_Round 1." _The ridiculously deep voice of Shao Kahn rang out. _"Fight!"_

They began. Sheldon tried to attack her with a lightning spell, but she blocked and kicked him in the air, before grabbing hold of him with her lasso and throwing him back to the ground. They continued in this fashion, one person blocking the other and the other attacking. She ultimately won that round.

"I would say you got lucky if there were such a thing as luck." Sheldon said stiffly, holding in his frustration at losing.

"I must just be better than you." She grinned widely. Sheldon glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, the veins in his neck throbbing. Howard, Raj and Leonard watched on the edge of their seats.

"_Round 2…. Fight!" _The fight began, and Victoria ruthlessly beat Sheldon's character for the win. _"Finish him." _Victoria's character stepped back two paces, and she began to quickly press a combination of buttons.

"What are you doing?" Sheldon asked worriedly, Victoria just smiled and nodded at the screen.

Wonder Woman's eyes turned gold, and she tied her lasso round Raiden's waist, flew in the air, swung him round and threw him to the ground, head first.

"Oooooh…" Howard said in a pained tone.

"Fatality. Bitch." Victoria boasted, hands in the air.

"That was awesome." Leonard laughed. "How'd you do that?"

"It's no the combination, it's where you stand." She knowledgably told him.

"You must've cheated." Sheldon stood, going into the kitchen. "No one can be that attractive and that good at video games."

"That's what you said about Penny." Leonard pointed out.

"Penny's good at Halo because she mindlessly presses buttons. Victoria seems to have some skill." Sheldon stiffly admitted as he made himself some tea.

"Aww, don't be so sore Sheldon. Just because I _beat_ you." She smiled devilishly, winking at Leonard who laughed to himself. "So, how do you guys usually spend your weekends?" She decided to change the subject not wanting to piss off someone she'd just met _too_ much.

"Well, Howard and Raj spent the morning at the farmers market scamming on hippie chicks." Leonard said and Howard shot him a sharp look, she held back a laugh.

"But essentially Sunday's are the one day we are free of the constraints of C3PO's schedule." Howard said and nodded to Sheldon, who gave him a pointed look.

"Cool, so, comic book store?" She suggested, standing up. "I noticed it when I drove by the other day, looks pretty decent to me."

"Yeah it's a good place. So, comic book store?"

"Excellent." Sheldon stood. "The new issue of Flash is out today."

They all headed for the door and left the apartment. She found herself in conversation with Sheldon as they made their way down the many stairs, and by the time they were out of the door, it spiraled into an argument.

"Sheldon, we cannot solve the 'Picard vs Kirk' debate in the time it'll take us to get to the comic book store." She sighed as they walked down the road.

"Of course we can. Picard his better than Kirk." He said simply with a slight shrug. She looked up at him angrily, as he had a good half a foot of height on her.

"Kirk is better than Picard. End of story." She crossed her arms and looked at the floor. He looked down at her.

"Explain." He said simply. She looked back up at him. _'His eyes are very blue.' _

She sighed deeply again. "There are a myriad of reasons why I'm right and you're wrong, but before we begin this debate I declare we must stick with the characters, it must not become Patrick Stewart vs William Shatner because we all know who'll win that one. Agreed?"

He looked at her for a moment as though considering it.

"Agreed."

Leonard, Raj and Howard all looked at each other and knew a storm was brewing.

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_**5 Minutes Later – The Comic Book Store**_

"You cannot be a genius if you are so stupid!" Victoria frustratedly exploded, clenching her new copy of 'Arkham Asylum 15th Anniversary' in her hands tightly.

"Stupid? For simply pointing out your observation of Kirk's leadership skills over Picard's are incorrect?" He said to her, his voice slightly higher from annoyance. She truly was an extremely stubborn woman.

"But I'm not incorrect." She said through clenched teeth. "Kirk is a superior leader."

"Oh please-" Sheldon began.

"Shall we finish this now? You know, before someone gets hurt?" Howard cut in.

Victoria took a breath and straightened her t-shirt. _'What a frustrating man.'_

"I think you're right Howard." She said, deciding to browse the comic books for a while

"So you are leaving the argument. I win." Sheldon said with the slightest of smug smiles.

"No. I'm postponing the argument. I'll win later." She smirked slightly, eyeing the superhero belt buckles. "That'll make two wins in one day Sheldon." She openly grinned up at him now, and he could feel his neck twitching again.

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	3. Chapter 3

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Doctor Gablehauser. I'm very excited about working here." Victoria smiled brightly, shaking his hand.

"We're very excited about _having_ you work here. Your research has been constantly outstanding from the age of around sixteen, I only wish we'd found you sooner."

"Well, you've found me now. I only hope I can make some decent discoveries for your university."

"I have no doubt you will. Well, enjoy your office. Doctor Cooper is just next door, one of our theoretical physicists."

"Yes." She smiled. "I'm familiar with Doctor Cooper."

"Excellent. Now, feel free to have a walk around the university. I know you're very accomplished in engineering and I'm sure those guys would be more than happy to meet you."

"Thank you Doctor Gablehauser." She gave him a nod, shook his hand again and he left her new office. She looked round, most of her books had been moved onto the shelves, a whiteboard, and a nice large desk. She let out a sigh and cracked her knuckles. _'String theory in black holes; prepare to be studied.'_

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"Where the hell is that neutrino…?" Victoria said to herself as she stared at the now almost entirely blue whiteboard. She became frustrated as she looked over her own scrawly equations and let out a huff, throwing her pen down on the table. "Time for a walk." She ran her fingers through her hair, and left the office, desperate for a change of scenery.

She headed for the engineering lab, where she instantly spotted Howard, (difficult not to with those jeans), who was knelt working on what looked to her like the suspension on a routine exploratory shuttle.

"Hey Howard." She said, leaning on the table in front of him. He looked up at her, taking in her well fitting jeans and white ¾ length sleeve blouse.

"Why hello there Victoria." He stood up quickly. "What brings you here?"

"I got a little bit bored, decided to have a look around." She shrugged, seemingly unaware of the many geeky male eyes on her. Howard felt slightly smug about the fact that it was him that she was talking to.

"Well, I'm just working on the suspension on this shuttle headed for a previously unmapped section on the moon."

"Well make sure you do a good job. I'll be the one using it." She smiled brightly.

"I will put all my effort into it, I assure you." He said, hand on his chest. Victoria laughed a little.

"Ready for lunch?" She asked, after she felt that familiar ache in her stomach.

"Sure." He dropped his wrench on the table, and they headed for lunch, where Sheldon, Leonard and Raj were already seated and eating.

Victoria and Howard got their food and joined them.

"Hi guys." Victoria said and tucked into her chicken sandwich.

"Hey Vicky, how are you finding the university?" Leonard asked.

"I love it. Doctor Gablehauser is so much nicer than the last head of department I worked for." She said, cracking open her soda.

Sheldon scoffed slightly.

"Doctor Gablehauser is a pseudo-scientist. His papers are largely great scientific theory reduced to a collection of what he would consider to be witticisms." He said condescendingly, Victoria looked at him for a moment.

"_Besides_ all that. He seems like a nice guy. He's kinda handsome too." She quipped. Sheldon ignored the inexplicable stabbing feeling in his stomach at these words.

"Isn't he a little old for you?" Howard said with a slight laugh.

"So? Denzel Washington's 56, I'd still let _him_ do things to me that would make a whore blush." She shrugged and continued with her lunch, oblivious to the rather stunned silence.

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**Friday**

"Honey! I'm home!" Victoria called as she came into the apartment, and dropped her keys in the bowl.

"Hey Vicky." Penny laughed, coming in from the bathroom, still in her work clothes. "Fancy going to a bar tonight?" She suggested on a whim.

"Sure. Why not?" Victoria shrugged with a grin. "I've got a hankering for plenty of alcohol and some dancing."

"Awesome." Penny smiled brightly; glad to finally have someone to go out with.

They both disappeared into their respective rooms to get changed. Victoria decided on a short floaty black dress, cinched in at the waist with a silk bow, with a deep V-neck. She made sure her eyes looked smoky, and finished off with a pair of black Mary Jane's.

Once happy with her appearance she left her room, and met Penny in the hall.

"You look great." Penny told her honestly.

"So do you."

Penny did look very pretty in dress much like Victoria's, only pale yellow, and on her feet she wore wedge sandals, her hair up but a lot of it falling round her face.

"So, are the boys coming?" Victoria asked, heading for their door. Penny laughed.

"I doubt it. I mean, can you really see Sheldon in a bar?" She pointed out.

"Not really, but I bet I can get him to join us." Victoria said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Care to make that interesting?" Penny smirked, crossing her arms.

"Okay, the loser buys drinks all night. Agreed?" Victoria suggested, holding out her hand.

"Agreed." Penny shook it, and Victoria immediately headed to knock on Leonard and Sheldon's door.

…

Leonard, Howard, Sheldon and Raj were all busy watching re-runs of the original Batman series, starring Adam West, when someone knocked at the door, Leonard answered as usual, and felt his skin heat up at the sight of Victoria and Penny in the doorway, both dressed up, both looking gorgeous.

"Hey guys." Penny announced cheerily, sure she would be getting free drinks all night. Howard and Raj went a little dry mouthed, and although Sheldon would never say anything, he couldn't deny the effect that seeing Victoria like that had on him. She looked truly amazing, her pale legs shown off by the short dress, her chest elegantly displayed, eyes smoky behind her glasses, those damn lips plump and pink as ever.

Penny looked okay too.

"We were just wondering if you guys wanted to come out with us tonight?" Victoria asked, sending a discreet wink to Penny.

"We'd love to." Leonard said quickly.

"Of _course_." Howard said simultaneously.

"Absolutely not." Sheldon also replied. Penny gave Victoria a triumphant look, but Victoria wasn't phased. She cleared her throat before sitting on the sofa beside him.

"Oh but Sheldon, I think you will change your mind after you hear my theory." She said softly and lowly. Sheldon cocked his head to the side slightly.

"I am willing to listen to it." He crossed his hands on his lap and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, I moved into the apartment across the hall a mere week ago. You hardly know me at all and given the very small conversation we have when I come over for dinner or we eat together at work, a social outing would be the perfect opportunity to determine whether or not I am a tolerable enough person for you to be able to have interaction with as well as sharing a hallway with; and given my roommate status with Penny and her closeness to your group it would be _logical_ of you to get to know me in a more widely social setting."

Penny wavered a little; she was probably going to lose this bet. Sheldon seemed to think for a moment, and everyone was quiet in the room while they awaited his reply.

"Alright." He eventually said simply and stood. "Let's go."

"Wait, wait." Howard quickly stopped him. "We can't go dressed like this."

"Sure you can." Penny shrugged.

"Yeah, Penny and I are a little over dressed if anything, we're only going for a few drinks." Victoria added.

They soon left the apartment and took a walk into the center of Pasadena, to a fairly small but busy bar called '_Rendezvous.'_

Penny walked casually in arm in arm, the boys slightly awkwardly behind them into the crowded club, while the music pumped through and the lighting was dim. Victoria made a beeline for the bar and pulled Penny with her.

"I love this place." She said, sitting herself on one of the stools, while Howard eyed up different girls, judging them on attractiveness and objective desperation. "The drinks are on Penny." She winked with a devilish grin. Penny stuck her tongue out at her.

"What can I get you guys?" The pretty red headed bar tender said. Raj whispered something to Howard.

"He'll have a Grasshopper, and I'll have a beer." Howard said, leaning his elbow on the counter and giving her his best, 'please sleep with me,' smile.

"I'll just have a beer too." Leonard said. He didn't really have a drink of choice due to the fact he didn't drink much.

"I'll have a virgin Cuba Libre." Sheldon said stiffly, looking more than uncomfortable in a bar ordering drinks.

"Isn't that just a coke?" The bartender questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Diet coke." Sheldon corrected. Victoria shook her head and leaned over the bar to her.

"Make it a little _slutty_ for us will ya?" She said with a wink, the bartender grinned and nodded.

"I'll have a Bacardi breezer." Penny ordered next. The bartender then turned to Victoria, who didn't hesitate one second before ordering.

"I'll have a White Russian, on the rocks, please don't skimp on the Kahlua and make sure the vodka is ice cold." She said, the much practiced words rolling off her tongue. "And when I mean ice cold, I mean like you just got it out of a cryogenic freezer cold." The boys were again stunned into silence. Once the drinks were prepared, Penny handed them out.

"Okay guys." Victoria lifted up her glass. "To a night we will never remember." She grinned.

"Cheers to that." Penny laughed. They all clinked glasses, Sheldon rather reluctantly, before downing a few sips of their drinks… But, a few sips are all it takes.

… … …

"Oh my God! I love this song!" Penny exclaimed after her fifth/ sixth Bacardi breezer. Howard had disappeared some time ago to hit on a girl, Raj following behind, who Victoria found became a lot more talkative after a few drinks. Leonard sat at the bar, slumped slightly, laughing at almost everything.

"Leonard. I feel funny." Sheldon said over the music. His head was feeling slightly… Blurry, and his speech was rather more slurred than usual. _'Perhaps it's the fumes…'_

"Hey, you'll be fiiiine." Leonard assured him with a clumpy tap on the arm. "Drink your virgin Cuba Libre." Leonard smiled, aware of the fact Sheldon had been unknowingly ingesting alcohol all night. Penny and Victoria giggled to themselves. Sheldon had been drinking his 'virgin Cuba Libre's,' all night, and the more he drank the less he noticed the increasing taste of rum in each one.

"Hey! I got an idea!" Victoria said, leaping off her stool. "Shots!"

"Shooooots!" Penny heartily agreed.

"Hey! Hey!" Victoria called to the bartender. "Could we get four jello shots over here?"

"No, I don't drink." Sheldon said, slightly wobbly on the stool as he spoke.

"Oh Sheldon…" Victoria laughed and walked over to him, and slung an arm round his shoulder. "You've been drinking all night honey." Sheldon wasn't sure if it was the atmosphere of the bar, or the oddly intoxicating smell of Victoria's perfume, or even her proximity. But he found he didn't care quite as much as he should've.

The bartender poured out the shots.

"I ca…" Sheldon hiccupped. "It is immoral to have been poisoning me all night."

"Not poisoning you Sheldon." Penny defended.

"Helping you have a good time." Victoria shrugged and picked up his shot before bringing it to his _'surprisingly pink lips.' _"Go on Sheldon." She grinned, only vaguely aware of Penny taking Leonard off to dance. "Live a little." She had got oddly close to him now, and he could feel her hot breath on his face. For some reason, it didn't bother him.

She picked up her own shot.

"1… 2… 3…" With that, she downed the hot, brisk drink with a slight groan, before laughing. Sheldon quickly did the same, I felt instantly quite… Invigorated. "See… Not so bad right?"

"I must admit I never tried that before." Sheldon said, dragging out his words more than usual.

"Bet you've never tried this before either." Victoria quickly grabbed his hand, and pulled him up to the dance floor on ever so slightly unsteady feet. Some slow paced hip hop song played out, and Victoria wound her arms round Sheldon's long neck.

"W- what are you doing?" He could feel his heart rate increase, and he felt slightly warmer than he had felt before.

"Dancing." She said simply, swaying her hips slightly, she noticed his stiffness and the face he wasn't moving and smiled to herself. "I knew you hadn't done this before." She said. "Here" She painfully slowly slid her arms down his shoulders, arms and eventually to his hands. She gently lifted them, and placed them on her waist, before re-looping them round his neck. "And now you just sway from side to side." She said in his ear so she didn't have to shout over the music.

Sheldon felt an inexplicable tingle at the feel of her breath on his ear, and her curved waist beneath his hands.

"I don't want to dance." He said, however not moving his hands. Victoria smiled to herself again.

"Yes you do. You've just been telling yourself that you don't want to for so long that you actually believe your own delusions." She stepped closer, so her entire soft form was pressed against his thin one.

He began to do as she said, moving from foot to foot as she moved against him to the slow, smooth music.

"You see Sheldon… Dancing really isn't that hard… I mean… I could do this." She quickly turned in his arms so that her back was against his chest… Her backside was against his groin too, he unfortunately noticed, and felt his skin heat up.

She bit her lip, unsure why she was doing what she was doing, but unsure why she was enjoying it so very much with cold, detached Sheldon Cooper. A man she had known but a week.

… …

"I'm having no luck tonight." Howard said to Raj as he failed with yet another woman.

"That's because you keep scaring them off, dude." Raj replied, crossing his arms. They headed back to where the rest were sitting before, but their seat were empty. "Hey where-" Howard suddenly elbowed Raj in the ribs and nodded toward the dance floor.

Penny and Leonard were dancing together, but that sight wasn't nearly as surprising or shocking, as Sheldon dancing with Victoria.

"Holy crap." Was all Raj could say.

Howard shook his head. "Luck-y bastard."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long! But hey, two chapters to make up for it, huh?**

…

When Victoria awoke she only had around eleven seconds of relief, before she felt the banging pain in her head and the sick feeling in her stomach. She groaned, and slowly opened her eyes. She could see the light that was pouring in through the window and over Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, her face was laying on Sheldon's stripy cushion, and she had a soft blanked draped over her.

She sat up confusedly, the subsequent blood rushing to her head causing more nausea to wash over her. She looked around, hand on her forehead and the events of the night before came flooding back.

…

"_Pahaha!" Penny laughed as they made their way unsteadily up the stairs and back to the apartment._

"_What a night!" Victoria exclaimed, feeling hot in the face from the drink and laughter. _

"_I don't feel well Leonard…" Sheldon said in a slightly child-like voice, as they reached the fourth floor. _

"_Hey! Hey! Let's play Rock Band!" Raj shouted hands in the air._

"_Rock baaand!" Victoria cheered._

"_Woooo!" Penny added, they basically fell into apartment, laughing. _

…

"Shit… Poor Sheldon…" Victoria groaned and stood up, her shoes were gone, and her dress lop- sided. She padded over to Sheldon's bedroom, and gently opened the door. He was lying atop the covers, fully dressed with his hands lying on his chest, his brow was relaxed in his sleep, and Victoria took a moment to appreciate how uncharacteristically peaceful he looked.

She quietly cleared her throat and stood beside his bed. _'He looks pale.'_

"Sheldon." She gently called, and rested a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Sheldon." She called a little louder. He stirred a little.

"Five more minutes…" He groaned childishly, obviously still half in dreamland.

"But Sheldon, you have to get up for school." Victoria smiled to herself as she spoke. His eyes suddenly shot open at the voice.

"You're in my room." He said groggily. "No one's supposed to be in my room."

"Sorry Sheldon, but in about five seconds you're gonna be feeling very unwell." Victoria sat on the edge of his bed, being careful to keep and distance from him.

"What are you… Oh…" Sheldon paled and sat up slightly, his hair was messier than usual.

"I'm sorry. I recommend burnt toast and strong coffee." She tapped his knee and stood, heading for the door.

"Wait." He called after her. "You can't leave me." He said in a tone a few octaves higher than usual. Victoria turned to face him.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm sick, and given the fact it is due in part to your actions then you have an obligation to take care of me." He sat up completely, back against his pillows. Victoria side and ran a hand through her hair, deciding that he was probably right.

"Fine Sheldon." She sighed. "What do you want?"

"What time is it?"

Victoria checked her watch.

"10:16am."

"Then I will have a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of orange juice." He said quickly.

"I find orange juice upsets my stomach slightly when I have a hangover. I recommend something hot." She suggested, leaning with one hand on the door handle.

"What do you recommend?"

"Coffee, herbal tea or hot Ribena."

"I will have a hot Ribena."

"Excellent." With that, Victoria left the room and headed for the kitchen. Over the years, she had developed quite a tolerance for hangovers, she had the ability to roll out of bed after a night of dining White Russians and make significant developments in the ability to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity.

She made Sheldon's grilled cheese, with plenty of butter as more grease meant quicker recovery when it came to hangovers, and heated up his Ribena.

She carried it carefully to him on a tray she fished out of their cupboard and placed it on his lap. He had changed into his pajamas in the time she had been out of the room, they were green plaid and loose fitting, and he looked rather cute in them actually.

"Thank you." He said, he sounded so childlike when ill.

"You're very welcome Sheldon, see you later." She headed for the door again.

"Wait, wait." He said again, Victoria scrunched up her eyes and turned round again.

"What Sheldon?"

"I'm sick. You have to take care of me, we've discussed this." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sheldon, you're not a baby, and you're not sick. Just eat your sandwich and take a few aspirin, you'll be fine."

"I highly doubt it." He instantly said. Victoria could tell there was no point in arguing this, she _had_ after all got him drunk in the first place.

"Alright, I'm going back to my place for a shower and clean clothes. But I'll come back, okay?"

"That's acceptable." He said after apparently due consideration.

"I know it is." Victoria said, and left his room and the apartment.

When she opened the door to her apartment, she found Leonard laying face down on the couch, one arm hanging off, glasses lopsided on his face. She chuckled to herself slightly, and headed for the bathroom, after showering quickly and brushing her teeth, she dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans and returned to Sheldon, hair still slightly wet.

"How are you feeling Sheldon?" She called as she came into the apartment.

"Nauseated." He replied. She went back to his room where he was still sitting in bed, empty plate and glass beside him.

"Are you coming into the living room?" She asked.

"Yes, I suppose that I must leave my bedroom at some point anyway." He said resignedly, before standing, pulling his comforter over his shoulders and following her into the living room.

"Oooh, Saturday morning time for Doctor Who." Victoria flopped into the middle of the couch, remote in hand.

...

Victoria never enjoyed radio astronomical research, but unfortunately, it was part of the job to sit on a chair, staring at a screen and waiting for a tiny blip of sound waves on the radar, that usually turned out to be an off course jumbo jet or a Russian satellite.

Nevertheless, she sat on the chair, in the middle of the room, propelling herself in a circle, and occasionally glanced at the screen.

"_Space… the final frontier…"_ Her phone vibrated in her jeans pocket and she hurriedly answered.

"Hey Penny." Victoria said in a bored tone, spinning once.

"Hey, you busy tonight?"

Victoria span again and looked at the steady flow of sound waves upon the grey screen.

"That depends how you look at it." She sighed, and span again. "But technically, I am busy."

"Damn. I was gonna ask if you wanted to go out for dinner." She huffed. "Maybe some other time."

"Sorry Penny."

"It's not your fault, when you gotta work you gotta work. I'll see you later Vicky."

"See you." Victoria hung up and returned her phone to her pocket, before returning to the computer.

"Victoria?" She turned round to see Sheldon standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh hey Sheldon. What brings you to this dark corner of the university?" She smiled slightly, hands resting on her stomach.

Sheldon chose to ignore her joke. "I have a proposition for you."

She arched her brow. "Shoot."

"Well," Sheldon stepped into the room. "I am currently working on a paper on the recent discovery of magnetic monopoles in spin ice, and I could do with a 'fresh pair of eyes', if you will."

"So why are you asking me? My main field is observational astrophysics."

"I see your point. I remembered you said you'd dabbled in theoretical physics and read a few of your papers online, it seems by far that you would make the most appropriate work partner on this project."

"Oh yeah? You liked the papers huh? So did the rest of the scientific community. However, I'm afraid that working with _you_ on this won't offer _me_ much gain." Victoria shrugged, glancing back at the unmoving screen. "You _would_ have to share credit."

Sheldon felt the muscles in his mouth twitch somewhat at her words, but in his almost infinite intelligence he knew conditions would have to be set for her to agree to work with him.

"I reluctantly accept." He eventually conceded, hands behind his back.

"Excellent." Victoria stood up and crossed the room to face him. "I look forward to work with you Doctor Cooper." She grinned, hand held out. He shook it.

"And I you, Doctor Moore." Sheldon nodded, his mind marveling at how soft her hands were.

…

**That Saturday**

"Seriously, working with Sheldon?" Penny said over coffee, as they sat in the window of a Starbucks.

"Yeah, he offered, I accepted." Victoria shrugged.

"And he agreed to share credit with you?" Penny tried to clarify.

"Yup, reluctantly. But he did agree to it."

"Huh." Penny eventually said, pondering. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he likes you."


	5. Chapter 5

**3 Months Later**

"No, Sheldon. The spin ice, features the corner-touching tetrahedral lattice with little magnets on the corners of the tetrahedron that arise from the magnetic moments of the atoms at these locations. And therefore must be written thusly…" Victoria drew what appeared to be a series of arrows pointing in different diagonal directions, with different circles placed in certain grid squares.

"Now we need to figure out how to pull the magnet out without creating further defects."

They both went silent, minds whirring, pens rested against their lips as they stared at the board.

"Yes!" Sheldon eventually exclaimed, making Victoria jump. "We simply create and deform Coulombs' needle." He hurriedly and excitedly added and removed arrows.

"You're right! And then we finally add a few more such paired defects and pull them apart…" Victoria stood beside him at the board, and he was vaguely aware of her breath on his cheek as he worked.

"Then find Coulomb's needle within the lattice…" Sheldon hurriedly continued.

"So the defects are no longer paired, but can move around independently as if they were magnetic monopoles!" Victoria dropped her pen and looked and Sheldon with an overjoyed expression. "Sheldon we just proved your theory that spin ices contain magnetic monopoles."

"This is the discovery of the year." Sheldon said, looking almost shocked at the board. "We'll be revered for this." He said to her, with a smile, something she'd never seen him do before.

"Sheldon, I could never have done this without you." Victoria unthinkingly hugged him tightly round the shoulders, standing up on her tiptoes. Sheldon felt an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach and his chest when she did this, and thought it wasn't that bad. He hugged her round the waist with slightly stiff arms, and only gently.

Victoria smiled and savored the rare moment, before they pulled apart.

"Thank you. I couldn't have done this without your help." He honestly told her, and Victoria appreciated him in a completely selfless moment. _'He's kind of sweet really.'_

"Well the drinks are on me tonight Shelly." She grinned. He gave her a sharp look. "Just kidding…"

…

"So what exactly does it mean for you?" Penny asked over celebratory dinner at China Moon that night, which happily coincided with 'anything can happen Thursday.'

"Well, we will more than likely receive physicists of the year at the university, which means an award not to mention massive respect from our fellow scientists." Victoria proudly smiled.

"May a propose a toast?" Howard held up his glass of coke.

"Of course." Sheldon agreed, and lifted his own glass.

"To Victoria and Sheldon, in three months of fastidious work, Victoria managed not to choke him to death." Everyone laughed, bar Sheldon, and clinked glasses.

…

Later that night, Penny, Leonard and Sheldon were sitting around in their apartment, Victoria had turned in early that night.

"So Sheldon…" Penny piped up, looking sideways and Leonard who knew what she was about to say.

"You seem to be getting on with Vicky well…"

"She does have a remarkable brain, and very little in the way of irritating social habits." Sheldon said, not looking away from the television.

"She's pretty too…" Penny added, watching his face closely.

"She is rather aesthetically pleasing." Sheldon flatly replied. Penny rolled her eyes.

"I think what Penny is trying to get across here is that you might like Victoria… As more than a colleague." Leonard clarified for him.

Sheldon eventually looked away from the screen.

"An interesting notion…" He said, surprising them both. "You're suggesting that I may have feelings of an intimate nature toward Victoria."

"Well… Yeah." Leonard admitted, turning off the television.

"It's a thought provoking hypothesis. It could potentially explain the odd behaviors I inhibit when in close quarters with her." He thoughtfully continued.

"Such as?" Penny asked.

"Change in respiration, increased heart rate, clammy palms. Not to mention the things I notice about her anatomy, and later spend time thinking about." He said. Penny frowned and thought for a moment.

"You mean like her chest, and her legs and stuff?" She asked.

"Her chest, her legs, her lips, her eyes, her hair… Trivial things." He told her. Penny and Leonard incredulously looked at each other.

"Sheldon, it sounds like you have a crush on Vicky." Leonard told him, eyebrows high.

"Please, Leonard." Sheldon said derivatively. He stood up and headed for the kitchen. "I do not have a 'crush' on Victoria, a phrase which has always baffled me, by the way."

"Think about it Sheldon." Penny said exasperatedly as Sheldon made himself warm milk. "It's the only explanation, plus, she's a nice girl, she's gorgeous and you said so yourself, she's just as smart as you."

Sheldon looked at her consideringly for a while.

"You're saying that Victoria would make an appropriate mate for me."

"Well… Not in those words, but you would kind of make a good couple." Penny said.

"Fascinating…" Sheldon said with a pondering expression. Without another word he carried his mug of milk to his bedroom, leaving Leonard and Penny in stunned silence.


	6. Chapter 6

**If you've never heard 'Down in Mexico' by the Coasters I seriously suggest it. Brilliant song. **

**By the way, I've kind of changed the time this story is set to fit in with the tangent I'm trying to go off on, nothing's massively changed, we're just kind of post- Penny and Leonard's relationship. Think of chapter one as a pilot, so chapters on can include readjustments. XD **

…

**Saturday morning**

"Don't go there Penny. Sheldon is a crazy person." Victoria sipped her latte, as they looked out of the window of their regular spot in Starbucks. "Even if he is a kind of cute crazy person…"

"All I'm saying is, he's single, you're single. He's a physicist, you're a physicist…"

"I'm a humanoid, he's a humanoid." Victoria sarcastically droned.

"_And _the way he talks about you is one of the few ways he shows he is _actually_ a human."

"I don't know Penny." Victoria sighed. "He is a brilliant man, and he is kind of cute… But, dating him? Can you really see that?"

"Yes, I can, and I think you can too if you're honest." Penny said pointedly.

Victoria said nothing for a moment, and sipped her latte.

"Tell me the whole story about Leonard, and I'll tell you how I feel about Sheldon."

Penny looked at her coffee sullenly for a moment, and sighed.

"Okay, Leonard and I dated for a while, but it didn't work out." She said.

"Why not?"

"Well, he told me he loved me one day and I wasn't ready for it."

"That's a shame, you'd make a good couple." Victoria honestly told her. There was a slight silence after this in which Penny downed the rest of her drink.

"You have to tell me about Sheldon now." Penny said quickly. It was Victoria's turn to sigh.

"He's very intelligent, cute and occasionally sweet… He has great arms…" Victoria told Penny, who raised her eyebrow.

"Great arms?"

"Yep, I'm a fan of his Adam's apple too."

…

**Knock, knock, knock** "Penny." **Knock, knock, knock** "Penny." **Knock, knock, knock **"Penny."

Victoria groaned and stood up from the couch to answer the door.

"Penny's working this afternoon, what do you want Sheldon?"

"I need a ride to the mall." He told her, trying to ignore how becoming the form fitting pale yellow dress she wore was.

"Why?"

"I need new socks." He said flatly.

"You _need_ new socks, or you _want_ new socks?" Victoria questioned, leaning on the doorframe.

"Need. It's been three months since I last bought socks, hygiene dictates I must buy new ones."

Victoria sighed. "Well, Penny isn't here."

"Then you should take me."

'_Should've seen that coming, Vicky.'_

"Okay, fine, I'll take you." Victoria grabbed her purse, checked her money and car keys were in it and left the apartment, Sheldon on her heels.

"Thank you. I usually have qualms about Penny driving me anywhere." He said, as they went down the first flight of stairs.

"Why's that?"

"Her reckless disregard for road safety."

"I can't say I've ever noticed." They were in the lobby now.

Sheldon opened the door and held it open for her to go first, her body momentarily brushing against his as she did so.

"It occurs to me that I've never been in your car before, I trust that it is perfectly safe." Sheldon said as she unlocked the door of her black Honda Civic, a gift from her parents for getting her Doctorate.

"It is, I assure you." They both got in the car, and Victoria put on the radio before setting off, Sheldon tried to ignore the fact that her dress had slightly slipped up her thigh, and looked out of the window.

"_Down in Mexicali, _

_There's a crazy little place that I know, _

_Where the drinks are hotter, than the chili sauce, _

_And the boss is a cat named Joe…"_

"Oh my god! I love this song!" Victoria said excitedly, and turned up the radio. Sheldon looked at her oddly. "He wears a read bandana, plays a cool piana, in a honky tonk, down in Mexico…" She sang along, badly, swaying her shoulders with her hands on the wheel. Sheldon sat stiffly, looking at her confusedly.

"Don't you just love this song!" She called over the volume, with a grin.

"I find it difficult to 'love' a song… However I can see the appeal to this one."

"'All of a sudden in walks a chick, Joe starts playing on a Latin kick, around her waist she wore three fishnets, she started dancing with the castanets…'" Victoria drummed her thumbs on the steering wheel. "'I didn't know just what to expect, she threw her arms around my neck, she started dancing all around the floor, and then she did a dance I never saw before…'"

Sheldon watched her with fascination; it always surprised him how even the most intelligent humans could become so excited by music that they enjoyed.

"Sheldon, why don't you sing along with me? Instead of looking at me like Spock trying to perceive human emotion." Victoria chuckled and turned the music down.

"My apologies, but I do occasionally find other people quite baffling."

"And so women like me must render you catatonic." Victoria grinned, and pulled into a spot in the car park.

"What do you mean by that?" Sheldon asked with a frown as they got out.

"You know…" Victoria locked the car. "A glamorous, slightly wild, genius." She jokingly winked.

The two headed inside the vast and busy mall, and straight to the first clothes store they came to. Sheldon made his purchase, and headed for the doors again.

"Wait, wait, wait." Victoria stopped him by tugging on his hand, which he didn't immediately pull away from hers. "We're here now, let's get a milkshake." She suggested, leading him toward the Milkshake Bar by the hand.

"But I came here for socks, I now have socks." Sheldon walked beside her now, although didn't let go of her hand.

"Well I came for milkshake and…" She held up her left hand and looked at it with mock surprise. "Look at that, no milkshake."

"I suppose a milkshake would be pleasant." He said as she led him inside, her eyes immediately going to the long list of things she could have blended into it. She absentmindedly let go of his hand, and Sheldon was overtly aware of the rush of cold air that came to it.

"I'll have a Rolo milkshake please." She ordered. "What do you want Sheldon?"

Sheldon snapped out of his reverie and asked for coco pops in his, they then found seats outside the shop, as Victoria felt the need to people watch, and malls were the best place for it.

"How's yours Sheldon?" Victoria asked, sipping hers from the thick straw, savoring each caramelly mouthful.

"Rather unpleasant, the coco pops have lost their molecular integrity… I am now drinking ice cream- coco pop mush." He said with a grimace at his cup.

"It cannot be that bad." She said with a smile, before taking the straw out of her drink, sucking the milkshake trapped inside it, and plopping it in Sheldon's cup. She then leaned over the table and took a sip.

He was right, it was just mush.

"Oh that is kind of gross." She laughed, and removed her straw again. Sheldon marveled at the attractiveness of her teeth, and how becoming her leaning over the table and sucking the milkshake out of the straw was. He would have to study why later…

They drank for a while, and conversed about science, physics and their families.

"So, really if I hadn't have become an astrophysicist I'd probably be a screenwrit- Oh shit!" She suddenly hissed mid sentence, slumping in her chair somewhat.

"What?" Sheldon asked worriedly, following her eye line over his shoulder.

"No, no, no, don't look…" She said in hushed tones, kicking his shin under the table lightly. "My ex-boyfriend is over there." She said, hand on her forehead.

"And why is this a problem?" Sheldon asked.

"Well it basically ended when I moved away from New York to pursue my career here. He was kind of a dick about it, he used to be an actor as a kid… You've probably seen him before." She put her hand over her eyes as if to shield her face from view.

It didn't work.

"Hey! Vicky!" He walked over to them both and stood before the table. Sheldon felt that unpleasant stabbing feeling in his gut and could feel his blood rushing through his veins.

"Hi, Wil. It's been a while…" Victoria said, awkwardly looking at the table.

"Too long Vicky… And Sheldon, haven't seen you in a while either."

"Wil Wheaton." Sheldon said darkly. "We meet again."


	7. Chapter 7

"You know each other?" Victoria questioned in a surprised tone, looking from one to the other.

"Oh, we know each other…" Sheldon said with a stony expression. He sat back in his chair, and crossed his forearms ceremoniously."Our first meeting was during a Mystic Warlords of Ka'a competition, when he lied about his grandmother's death in order to thwart me… Our second meeting was when he induced the albeit inevitable break up of Leonard and Penny to beat me in a bowling competition."

"Hmm, you always were competitive, weren't you?" Victoria said slightly icily, still quite raw about their break up.

"How weird is it that you two know each other?" Wil said, changing the subject while quickly pulling up a chair to their small table. Sheldon's face was angrily screwed up, and Victoria mouthed, 'sorry,' to him.

"It is kind of weird. So, how've you been?" Victoria asked, feeling slightly awkward, but deciding to be civil.

"I've been okay, doing a lot of stuff on the internet." He licked his lips and leaned closer to her. "I've been missing you, Vicky." He said quietly.

"Well, we broke up half a year ago, and given the way it ended I would've thought you'd be over it by now…" Victoria said, eyes fixed on Wil's face strongly.

"Remember that time we rented that log cabin in Vermont?" Wil asked, ignoring her previous statement. Sheldon could see he was trying to manipulate her emotions. "We didn't do a lot of skiing though." He smirked. Victoria blushed and glanced at Sheldon, whose face was unreadable.

"Yeah well…" Victoria cleared her throat. "That was then." She abruptly stood and picked up her milkshake. "We should go home. Penny's probably wondering where I am. Come on Sheldon."

"Alright." Sheldon stood up and left his drink on the table.

"See you around Wil." Victoria leaned over and pecked his newly bearded cheek. Which made the uncomfortable pang in Sheldon's stomach worsen.

"I hope so Vicky." He smiled at her, before she hurriedly left with Sheldon by her side.

It wouldn't be the last time she would see Wil Wheaton.

...

"You were in a carnal relationship with Wil Wheaton?" Sheldon asked her when they were outside and heading back to the car. Victoria was behaving evasively, not looking him in the eye and walking a few paces faster than usual.

"Yes, I was." She sighed deeply.

"Why?" Sheldon simply asked, unsure as to why a woman like Victoria would go out with such an egotistical man.

She sighed again. "He made me laugh, he was cute, he did well as an actor." She scratched her forehead as they approached the car. "I really liked him." She said, leaning her back against the door of her Honda. Sheldon stood directly in front of her.

"I take it from your behavior that your relationship didn't end on desirable terms." Sheldon said, surprised at his own perception.

"No, it didn't. I wanted to pursue my career, he wanted me to stay with him and ignore the fact that I'm an extremely intelligent and talented physicist. If it were left up to him, I'd be in a huge apartment in New York having sex with him on an hourly basis like we used to." Victoria said sullenly. Sheldon looked at the ground a moment, his hands clasped behind his back.

"If it's any consolation, I think you made the right decision." Sheldon eventually said, Victoria looked up into his large blue eyes.

"You do?"

"Of course, you're most intelligent woman I've ever met. Not to mention your kindness, external beauty, sense of hu-"

Sheldon was cut off by Victoria grabbing hold of his shoulders and crashing her ever so soft lips against his. She wasn't sure why she did it, it was probably one of the most irrational things she'd ever done in her life, but it felt good.

He stood in front of her immovably, his hands stiffly by his side, lips unmoving as were hers, eyes wide open. He tried desperately to quell his heartbeat, for it seemed as if it would burst from his chest, and he felt a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach at the feel of her pillowy lips beneath his. Her eyelids fluttered before they opened again, and she pulled away with a deep breath.

"Well…" She straightened her glasses. "We better get going home, hadn't we?" Breathing slightly erratic, Victoria straightened her dress and slid into the car. Leaving Sheldon standing stiffly in stunned silence.

…

The ride home was quiet; Victoria once again turned up the radio, in lieu of conversation, and nervously tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel. She wasn't sure how Sheldon felt about this kiss; she wasn't sure how _she_ felt about the kiss. She still wasn't sure why she did it.

Once back at the apartments, they made their way silently up the three flights of stairs, side by side.

Once in their hall, Sheldon cleared his throat.

"Well, thank you for the ride to the mall."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Victoria said with a nod, finding it difficult to look at his face.

After an awkward handshake, they parted, not looking at each other's faces.

As soon as the door closed behind Victoria she threw her head back against it with an exasperated laugh.

"Hey Vicky, where've you been?" Penny asked from the couch. Victoria looked at her and licked her lips.

"Well…"

…

"Leonard." Sheldon sat down on his spot on the couch, Leonard was in the kitchen.

"Hey Sheldon. You okay?" Leonard asked with a furrowed brow. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm not sure…" Sheldon said with a completely confused expression. "I'm not sure how I feel."

Leonard frowned in confusion and sat down beside him, herbal tea in hand.

"Well, why don't you start from the beginning?" He coaxed, and sipped his tea.

"Well, I needed new socks, so therefore needed a ride to the mall, I went to Penny and Victoria's apartment to ask Penny to give me a ride to the mall, however she was working and so Victoria was the one to take me. Upon arrival I purchased my socks and she suggested we buy a milkshake, thus came the first unusual occurrence…"

"Which was…" Leonard encouraged.

"Victoria held my hand for around 46 seconds and I didn't protest, nor have I disinfected my hands." Sheldon said worriedly.

"Okay, and this is why you're not sure how you feel?" Leonard tried to clarify.

"Oh that's just the beginning of it Leonard..." Sheldon said before restarting. "While we partook in our milkshakes I met her ex-boyfriend, who turned out to be none other than the _evil_ Wil Wheaton."

"Wow, I'm surprised she never mentioned it."

"That was not the main point of my story, my main point was that after an awkward sojourn with Wil Wheaton, we found ourselves standing by her car once more, where during conversation she abruptly… Kissed me."

Leonard's jaw fell to the floor and his eyes widened.

"She kissed you?" Leonard repeated, not sure he'd heard him right.

"Mid-conversation, he grabbed hold of my arms and kissed me for around ten seconds, although it felt like a lot longer."

"Wow." Said Leonard, in utter shock. "So uh… You're not sure how you felt about this kiss?"

"Precisely. Usually, the mere idea of such an exchange of bacteria and germs would disgust me, but I didn't protest, and I got a distinct feeling of enjoyment and ever so slight arousal." Sheldon explained, saying everything as scientifically as always.

"Little too much information there Sheldon, but okay…" Leonard said. "It sounds to me like you like this girl. Have you thought about maybe… I dunno, dating her?" Leonard decided he might as well take a stab at it, it my humanize Sheldon somewhat.

Sheldon paused, and looked ahead pensively.

"You're suggesting a relationship between Victoria and I."

"Yes I am. Wouldn't you like to kiss her again?"

Sheldon brought him thumb and forefinger to his lips, remembering the almost heavenly feel of hers, and the sweetness of her breath.

"It would be enjoyable." He conceded.

"Well then, you should date Victoria."

There was another pause.

"Alright then." Sheldon eventually said before standing and heading to his room. Leonard, mind reeling, turned on the television, and tuned into Babylon 5, settling down with his tea.

"Leonard."

Sheldon had returned to the living room.

"How do you 'date' a woman?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Knock knock knock** "Penny." **Knock knock knock** "Penny." **Knock knock knock** "Penny."

"What Sheldon?" Penny sighed when she answered the door, resigned to Sheldon's habits.

"Do you remember when I isolated the algorithm for friend making, in an ill advised attempt to befriend Barry Kripke?"

"Vaguely… Yeah…" Penny said uncertainly.

"It was during this time that you stated that we are friends."

"Okay…" Penny became increasingly worried.

"My point is that I am requesting something that a believe to be part of the friendship paradigm." Sheldon paused momentarily. "The favour."

Penny took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. "What is it Sheldon?" Penny stepped back to let him in and he did so.

"Well, I initially asked Leonard, but he suggested that you would be more help…" Sheldon sat in his usual twisting white and blue chair. "As I am sure you are aware, Victoria kissed me yesterday…"

"Yes, I'm aware." Penny sat on the couch, unable to fight off the smile that came onto her face.

"Well, given my reaction to the kiss, Leonard has suggested I may want to upgrade mine and Victoria's relationship status… In this case, by asking her out on a 'date.'"

"Oh my God! Really? That's so awesome!" Penny said excitedly, sitting on the edge of the couch.

"The favor I am requesting is for you to assist me on picking a location and/or locations."

Penny though for a moment. "Ooh! She _loves _Tarantino movies, and I'm pretty sure they're showing Kill Bill Volume 2 at Laemmle Playhouse 7 tonight, you know, that place on Colorado Boulevard?"

"I am aware of it. But I thought she had the film on DVD."

"That's what I said but she said 'Tarantino is made for the big screen.'" Penny said.

Sheldon had to resist smiling at how well could picture the words coming from her mouth.

"After you take her there you should take her for a walk through Lacy Park, she loves that place…" Penny paused thinking, Sheldon opened his mouth to speak. "OOH!" Penny cut him off before he started. "You should take her for a meal at this great little Italian place that she loves called Giaccomo's."

"All of this in one night?" Sheldon asked rather incredulously.

"If you can, yeah." Penny told him.

"I'm not sure that this is worth so much effort."

"Well do you wanna kiss her again?" Penny asked.

"Yes, very much so." Sheldon said honestly.

"Well then, you have to date her. And that's a date." Penny said simply.

Sheldon let out a resigned sigh and put his hands on his knees and stood.

"Then I shall date her. Please inform me when she returns from the market."

With that, Sheldon left the apartment, leaving Penny surprised and excited.

…

Victoria had only just returned to the apartment and dropped her paper bags on the kitchen counter when her phone rang in her jeans pocket.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Vicky." It was Wil. Victoria pursed her lips and leaned on the counter.

"What is it Wil?"

"It was great seeing you again the other day. I'd forgotten how much I miss you."

"It was nice to see you too Wil." Victoria ran a hand through her hair, and sat down at the kitchen counter.

"You're still gorgeous you know. Remember how much fun we had?" He asked.

"Come on Wil, let's not get into this…" Victoria sighed.

"No, let's… Come on, I know you can remember that time the power went out when we were living together… You looked so perfect that night, " He carried on. "In the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom…"

"Nope, nothing springs to mind." Victoria coldly cut him off. "You must be imagining that." Victoria could quite vividly remember what he was talking about, she could also remember that it had been around seven months ago, the last time she'd had sex with anyone. "So, did you just call to reminisce or was there an actual purpose behind it?"

"I wanted to see you. What are you doing tonight?"

Victoria chewed her lip a moment, considering.

"I'm busy." She eventually said, not wanting to get back into anything with him. "I'm going out for drinks with Penny." Victoria didn't make habit of lying through her teeth, but he'd get the message eventually.

"Fair enough. I'll call you some other time, you always know where to find me if you get a little tired of physicists and grease boards." With that he hung up, leaving Victoria irritated.

"Gotta change my number…" She said to herself, and headed to her room to settle in for a long Assassin's Creed 2 session.

**Knock knock knock** "Victoria." **Knock knock knock** "Victoria." **Knock knock knock** "Victoria."

She sighed and answered the door.

"Hey Sheldon, what's… Up?" She was surprised to find him standing before her in dark jeans, a maroon superhero-less t-shirt, and a grey denim jacket that was a tad short in the arms, which looked like it belonged to Leonard. He also had one arm behind his back.

"Hello, Victoria." He quickly produced his other arm. "I bought you daffodils." Victoria's confusion and surprise increased as he handed her the bunch of pretty yellow flowers. She was stunned speechless.

"Thank you… What's this for?" She asked slightly worriedly.

"I'm given to understand that this is proper protocol for requesting a date." Victoria blinked in surprise. "Would you like to come on a date with me tonight?"

Victoria's throat felt dry, and she was rather unsure how to feel. "Uh…" She cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'd love to actually." She smiled. "Where?" 

"Well, I know you like the films of Quentin Tarantino, so I thought you'd rather enjoy going to a showing of that at Laemmle Playhouse 7, before a meal at Giacommo's and a walk through Lacy Park… The rest of the evening is dependent on how all of that goes." Sheldon spoke with slightly less formality than usual, although had his hands clasped behind his back in his usual stance. He had an odd feeling within him, like a milder version of how he felt whenever he had to give acceptance speeches, slightly nauseated, excited, and sweaty palmed.

"That sounds rather lovely Sheldon. I accept your offer." Victoria smiled brightly.

"Excellent. I'll return in three hours to pick you up…" Sheldon said, before returning to his apartment.

Victoria stood in the doorway for a moment, holding the flowers aloft in one hand, shocked expression on her face.

"Guess I better get ready for my date then… With Sheldon." She said aloud to herself, and with a bemused expression, disappeared into her room.


	9. Chapter 9

Victoria emerged from her room, dressed in a floaty red waist height which stopped midway down her thigh, she wore a black button up cotton shirt tucked into it, which stopped at her elbows, and clung onto her curves. Her hair hung as wavy and wild as ever down her shoulders, her eyes smoky, and her lips rouged.

"You look awesome." Penny said from the couch, looking up at her with a wide smile, seeming as nervous and excited about the date as Victoria was.

"You think so?" Victoria picked up her purse, speaking quickly. "Not too…" She did a rapid turn. "Clingy?"

"You look great, honestly. Very sexy." Penny told her. Victoria groaned and flopped down onto the couch.

"No, no, no. This is the first date, I'm meant to look pretty, not sexy."

"He's seen you looking pretty so many times though. Why not look sexy?" Penny shrugged.

"Because it's Sheldon. He probably won't even notice I've put any effort in." Victoria stood up again and checked her reflection in the mirror on the wall, and fluffed up her hair slightly. "I'm wearing red heels for the love of Pete."

"Sure he will, he notices stuff about you he never notices about other girls. If I kissed him, he'd freak out and disinfect his mouth. You did it and he decides he wants to date you. It seems like he's willing to make exceptions for you." Penny honestly told her, as Victoria worried her hair in the mirror.

"Look." Penny stood and put her hands on Victoria's shoulders, and looked at her in the reflection. "You look gorgeous, you're funny, you're smart and you're sweet. There's no reason for you to be worried."

…

"Make sure you compliment her appearance." Leonard said.

"And that doesn't mean to say like 'you look very clean,' 'gee, your hair is long', you want to call her beautiful, pretty, sexy…" Howard added.

"But don't go too far with it… Girls find that creepy." Raj said.

Sheldon looked from one man to the other, taking in all the advice he could.

"I have a query." He said, raising his fingers slightly. "Given that you can not physically speak to women…" He nodded at Raj. "Your relationship with Penny ended in disaster." He nodded to Leonard. "And you are basically a sex pest. So why should I take advice from any of you?"

The three men looked at each other pointedly, and then back at Sheldon.

"Because we have at least been intimate with women. Have you?" Leonard asked, fairly carefully.

"No. I've always found the idea of physical intimacy rather repulsive."

"What about with Victoria?" Howard said, sitting beside him on the couch.

"I haven't really thought about it in depth." Sheldon paused for a moment. "Although, I did respond positively to the kiss the other day, and the idea of physical intimacy with _her_ doesn't bother me… It seems quite desirable actually." Sheldon said consideringly.

"Then you have to do what we say… All three of us, we're all the help you have." Leonard told him, his tone unintentionally ominous.

… … … … …

At exactly 6pm, Sheldon did his usual knock at the door, and both sets of eyes snapped to the source of the sound.

"You ready?" Penny asked her.

"Yep." Victoria said, and picked up her red purse.

"Good luck." Penny gave her a small hug. "You might need it."

Victoria nodded, and answered the door, Sheldon was still adorned in his clothes from before, which Victoria had to admit she rather liked and were a nice change from his usual superhero shirts and slacks.

"Hey, Sheldon." She smiled; giving Penny a small thumbs up behind her back before closing the door.

"Hello Victoria. You look very pretty." Sheldon said, taking Victoria by surprise. He made a loop of his arm, and offered it to her.

"You're letting me touch you?" She asked, disbelieving.

"I let you kiss me." He pointed out. She nodded, and hooked her arm round his. They made their way quietly downstairs, through the lobby and outside.

"So, where are we going first?" Victoria asked with a smile, sensing a nervous air about Sheldon.

"Well, I thought you might enjoy Kill Bill Volume 2 at Laemmle Playhouse 7, a meal at Giacommo's, followed by a spontaneous romantic walk through Lacy Park."

Victoria chuckled quietly to herself.

"Not so spontaneous now you've told me about it…" She pointed out with a slight smirk. Sheldon looked at the ground a moment.

"Drat."

…

The pair eventually found seats within the theatre, Victoria excitedly grinning as the room buzzed with the talk of Tarantino fans.

"I love this cinema." She grinned, before munching a piece of popcorn.

"It's very busy." Sheldon said, looking round uncomfortably, not a fan of large crowds.

"So? It's worth it to see this movie on the big screen." Victoria kicked off her heels and crossed her legs, her skirt riding up her thighs as she did so, which Sheldon unfortunately noticed.

"I've never seen the second part of these films."

Victoria's mouth fell open.

"Then you're in for a treat. I myself much prefer volume 2, but that's probably because David Carradine was just brilliant." Victoria told him with one of her wide smiles, the kind of smile that triggered that odd feeling in his chest and stomach. He found himself watching her mouth a lot, the way her lips moved when she spoke and how she would occasionally moisten them with her tongue.

The lights dimmed, and the chatter slowly died out as the trailers began.

"Want some popcorn?" Victoria whispered, leaning over to Sheldon. Her hot breath tickled his ear, triggering a hot feeling in the pit of Sheldon's stomach. Sheldon nodded and took a piece from the box. Trying desperately to ignore the strange feelings this woman evoked within him.

… … …

"Oh my, that was fantastic. That film never fails to put a smile on my face." Victoria said, looping arms with Sheldon as they walked down the street in the dull setting sunlight.

"It was rather invigorating, although I was confused as to your upset upon the death of Bill." Sheldon said, brow furrowed.

"Well, to Beatrix, Bill was the love of her life, and she is. And through it all she really probably didn't want to kill him, but she needed her revenge for letting her believe her daughter was dead and she took it. My upset came from the fact that idealistically, Beatrix could live her life with her daughter, and Bill." Victoria explained as best she could, as they made the short walk to Giacommo's.

"I see." Sheldon said, looking at the ground as he walked, trying hard not to stare at the picture of perfection she was in the glow of the dying sun.

During the film, the couple sitting in front of them had moved closer, and occasionally kissed. Sheldon had obviously thought he should do something, and placed a tentative hand on Victoria's shoulder, to which she chuckled, and lay her fingers over his.

They arrived outside the restaurant, on which was a sign reading: CLOSED FOR RENNOVATIONS, SORRY FOR THE INCONVINIENCE.

Victoria chuckled, at Sheldon's apparent annoyance.

"How irritating. I was not informed of this when I made reservations last week."

"Never mind Sheldon, we'll just go for a spontaneous romantic walk through Lacy Park." She said with a slight smirk, and tugged on Sheldon's arm, to get him to stop irritatedly looking at the sign on the door.

…

By the time the couple arrived at Lacy Park they had descended into argument.

"Come on Sheldon! You cannot possibly deny that while Enterprise is better than the Millennium Falcon, the Death Star is far superior to a Romulan or Klingon Bird of Prey battleship." Victoria exclaimed, hands in front of her.

"You're wrong. I can quite freely deny it… You're also wrong about the Death Star's superiority." They sat down on a bench, and Victoria once again crossed her legs, exposing the milky white flesh beneath.

"I am not wrong! You're just a fool." Victoria tucked some hair behind her ear. "Now let's stop this argument and get down to some real dating conversation." She grinned. Sheldon searched through his mind for the topics of conversation Leonard, Howard and Raj had told him about. However, one question was niggling in his brain.

"Are you ever planning to re-continue your relationship with Wil Wheaton?" He asked candidly. Victoria blinked in surprise.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"If you were I was going to advise you against it."

"Why's that?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Well, in short terms, you're too good for him. As I said before, he doesn't deserve you. You are, after all, a very desirable woman." He told her honestly, not meaning to give out such a swooning effect.

"Well, no, I'm not planning to re-continue my relationship with him. I already like somebody else too much." She said, looking at him sideways. It was his turn to blink in surprise.

"Who?" He asked, looking at her confusedly. She laughed and shook her head, before resting a hand on his thigh, and pressing her lips to his softly for a moment. That hot feeling came back again, and Sheldon leaned into the kiss, both desperate for the feeling to go a way and for it to remain forever.

She pulled away and licked her lips.

"Does that answer your question?"

Sheldon just nodded, stunned into silence by her again.

… … …

They arrived outside their apartments, after the kiss conversation had resumed as normal, films, books, physics etcetera… And now was time for the awkward sojourn just before the date ended.

"Well, I had a great night Sheldon, thank you." Victoria said, with a small smile.

"You're welcome, I also had an enjoyable evening." He replied.

A few awkward seconds passed before Sheldon spoke again.

"Protocol dictates that I kiss you now." He said, nervously glancing at her face, then the floor.

"Yes, but you're not usually one for social convention, and I can tell I'm going to have to help you out with this stuff." Victoria smiled, before stepping forward and taking his hands. She put them gently on her waist, before putting her hands on his shoulders, and kissing him once more, softly.

"Does that help?" She asked, biting her lip. Sheldon nodded, he could feel his hands shaking slightly, and the hot feeling was worse than ever. "You try it." She whispered.

Sheldon tentatively leaned in, and locked their lips together with slightly more force than her. They moved closer together, Victoria looped her arms further round his neck and he held onto her waist tightly, acutely aware of the fact he could feel her breasts against his chest.

They pulled away breathless, Victoria wanted more, but also knew she had to take her time with Sheldon.

"Okay…" She stepped back, trying to regain control over her breathing. "Well, goodnight." She tried to cheerfully smile, and hide her feeling of overwhelming lust.

"Good night…" He said, feeling exactly the same way.

They both turned and went to their doors, unaware that from Victoria's, Penny had just jumped away from pressing her ear against it, and from Sheldon's, Leonard had been doing the exact same thing.

"Uh… Victoria." Sheldon said, turning round to look at her.

"Yeah?" Victoria turned her head.

"Would you like to come inside and have something to eat? You didn't get to have your meal after all."

Victoria smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to." She walked over to him and waited while he unlocked the door and they went inside.

… … … … … … …

**Next morning**

Penny woke up far earlier than usual, aware of the fact that she hadn't heard Victoria come home the night before.

"There's no way they…" She said to herself, mind reeling as she pulled on a pair of furry boots. She first checked in Victoria's room, but she wasn't there, so she decided to check Sheldon's apartment… Maybe even his bedroom.

She pulled her hair up into a loose ponytail and went over, knocking on the door quietly at first before using her key to go inside.

What she found made her eyes wide and her jaw drop.

Sheldon sat in his spot, fast asleep, Victoria's head on his chest and arm draped over his stomach, Sheldon's head rested on top of hers, and his right arm was round her shoulders.

With her jaw dropped, Penny crept across the living room and took Leonard's room, where she hurriedly wrapped on the door until he came out, tying up his dressing gown with a confused expression.

"What is it?" He asked groggily.

"Just look." Penny grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the living room. Leonard's eyes also widened.

"No way…"

… … … … … … …


	10. Chapter 10

That morning, Victoria had awoken with her head on Sheldon's chest, and his arm firmly holding her there subconsciously, as he was fast asleep. Her first reaction had been to panic, but she subsequently remembered the events of the night before, in which the pair had eaten, watched old Doctor Who episodes, and fallen asleep. All fully clothed.

She'd remembered his trepidation when putting his arm round her, but she had assured him that would be as far as it would go, and he conceded to allow her to rest her head on his chest. He hadn't regretted it; she emanated warmth, and her hair smelled sweet and delightful.

Upon awaking, she slipped out of his grasp, picked up her shoes and tip toed to the door, before looking back at him sleeping. She bit her lip, feeling slightly bad about just walking out on him, so crept back to the coffee table, picked up a pen and a sticky note and wrote:

'_Thank you for a lovely night Sheldon, I'll see you at work. x'_

She tore off the note, and gently stuck it on Sheldon's hand, before creeping back out again and over to her apartment.

Where she was bombarded by Penny.

"So, you stayed at Sheldon's, huh?" She said, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"Yup." Victoria replied, dropping her shoes on the floor by the door.

"Did you have sex?" Penny asked bluntly.

"Thanks for beating around the bush, Penny." Victoria yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Well? Did you? Oh my god you did!" Penny exclaimed. "You're gonna have little genius babies!"

"No Penny, we didn't. We talked, we ate, we slept." Victoria said flatly, and turned on the coffee machine.

"Damn it." Penny stomped her foot.

"Why? Do you want me to have little genius babies?" Victoria laughed, and poured her coffee.

"Kinda… And it would be amazing if Sheldon had sex with anyone."

"Nah, I'm gonna take it slow with Sheldon." Victoria smiled. "I don't think I have much of a choice."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Sheldon knocked on Victoria's office door.

"Come in." She called. Sheldon stepped inside, and found himself slightly taken aback by the sight that met him. For one, Victoria had her long hair tied loosely up, whispy strands framing her face. She wore black thick rimmed spectacles and was looking hard at the star map in front of her, and that was unbelievably attractive. The second thing, was disturbing. Barry Kripke.

"Oh, hello Sheldon." She smiled brightly.

"Hello… What is Kripke doing here?" Sheldon tried to keep his tone level as his irritation with Kripke's proximity to Victoria as he leaned over her increased.

"Well, I'm studying the physical interaction between the Earth and the Sun and the fundamental physics of space plasmas. And Barry is deeply involved in plasma physics and offered to help."

"Oh, well I wanted to talk to you." Sheldon said stiffly, hands behind his back.

"Okay, go ahead." Victoria said. Barry was grinning, he could see how annoyed Sheldon was at his presence, and wasn't about to leave.

Sheldon was about to stress is point that the conversation ought to be in private, but decided that he would inflate his ego slightly instead…

"Well, I enjoyed last night very much also, and would love to take you out on a date again. And you look very beautiful today. I'll see you at lunch time." With a small nod, Sheldon left, leaving Victoria blushing and grinning, and Kripke irritated.

…

Victoria didn't show up to lunch, much to the surprise of the men, and the disappointment of Sheldon. He felt himself wanting to see her most of the time.

He rushed his lunch, which was a rarity as rushing food badly impeded digestive transit. He quickly grabbed a jam donut and a sandwich before he made his way swiftly to her office, the door was open, and he saw her immediately. She was standing at the other side of her desk, back to the door, hands on the desk as she leaned over the chart in front of her. Sheldon looked up at the ceiling, feeling slightly ashamed of the thoughts that had flashed in his mind at the sight of her pencil skirt- clad backside.

"Oh…" She stood up straight and turned. "Hey Sheldon." She was obviously stressing over something, her hair was slightly more messy where she had run her fingers through it a few times.

"You weren't at lunch, I assumed you were busy with something so I brought you some food." He said, and put the sandwich and donut on her table. Victoria smiled and rubbed her forehead.

"Thank you, that's so sweet. I need a break anyway." She gratefully removed her glasses and picked up the sandwich, Sheldon turned to leave.

"Wait, do you wanna stay? Keep me company?" She suggested with a shrug, finding herself wanting to be in his company most of the time.

"Of course, my current research is going swimmingly." Sheldon closed the door and watched as Victoria kicked off her shoes, and sat cross legged on the floor with her food and a bottle of water. It amazed Sheldon how she could be perfectly professional and insightful whilst being rather quirky at the same time.

"Come sit with me. The carpet's clean." She grinned, tapping the floor in front of her.

Sheldon considered a moment, before conceding to sit in front of her, mirroring her cross legged position.

While she ate they spoke about Sheldon's research and the upcoming Green Lantern movie. She moved onto her jam donut, biting into the middle so the jam dripped down her thumb, she chuckled at herself and sucked it off. Sheldon found himself watching her pink lips close around her thumb, as if in slow motion, and found himself in need of a drink of cool water.

"So…" Victoria licked the jam of her lips, aside from one blob in the corner. "Are you guys going to the Cheesecake Factory tonight?" Sheldon felt himself unable to carry on normal conversation.

"You have jam there." Sheldon indicated with his finger on his own mouth, and Victoria wiped the other side of hers, completely missing it. "No…" Without coherent thought, Sheldon brought the back of his index finger to the corner of her mouth and wiped it off before bringing it to his own mouth and licking it off.

So unhygienic, but he didn't care for some reason.

Both people blushed profusely and looked at their laps.

"I'm sorry I-" Sheldon was cut off by the fact Victoria had scooted to kneel in front of him, and kissed him tenderly and deeply. Her hands were on his shoulders and her eyes were closed while his were wide. It had taken him aback enough her kissing him in their apartment building, never mind within her office… It was oddly exciting.

Victoria wasn't sure what had come over her, an odd wave of hormones that made her desperately want Sheldon, the sweet out of character gesture he had made only heightening her excitement and lowering her inhibitions.

She found herself bending her elbows, and pushing him back slightly, so he lay on the floor with her body over his. He had melted into the kiss now, his hands on her waist, fingers flexing on the skin where her shirt had ridden up slightly. For the first time, her tongue tentatively touched his during the kiss, and he did the same to her, completely unfamiliar with this.

She left it at that, not wanting to scare him into tongue tangling just yet.

Her legs moved so her knees were either side of his hips and she effectively straddled him on the floor. His hands made their way up to her hair, where he removed the clip holding it up to allow her hair to fall round her shoulders, framing both their faces. He ran his fingers through her soft tendrils, and felt a low moan rise in his throat when she moved her hips slightly against his, creating a kind of unbearable friction. Her mouth tasted like jam and sugar.

After a while of this, Victoria needed to breath, and pulled away from his lips. They both breathed heavily, her face was flushed and Sheldon suddenly remembered where he was. Wanting simultaneously to throw her off and run back to his office, and a the same time to remove her clothes and lay her on the desk and…

"Sorry about that Sheldon." She said breathlessly, slowly getting off him and flattening her hair.

"N… no need to apologize." Sheldon sat himself up on his elbows, watching her as she hurriedly collected the packets from her sandwich and donuts and threw them in the trashcan.

Sheldon regained his composure and stood up.

"Well, I better be going." Sheldon said quietly, not quite having got his voice back.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Victoria said, feeling like she needed air and a cold shower.

Sheldon left her office without another word, and tried to get to his without anyone seeing him, as he was sure he would look as disoriented as he was.

"Hey Sheldon." Sheldon clenched and unclenched his fist and turned round. It was Raj, who frowned at him and cocked his head to the side.

"Hello Raj…" Sheldon said, trying to look nonchalant.

"Why do you have lipstick on your mouth dude?"

Sheldon searched his vast mind for any plausible excuse other than the truth. The name plaque on the door of the office he had just left caught Raj's eye, and his face dawned in realization.

"Oh, I see." He grinned happily. Sheldon felt there was nothing he could do to deny the truth now.

"You're not going to inform other people about this, I trust?" Sheldon said.

"Oh, of course not." Raj assured him, not trying to hide his glee. With a nod, Sheldon turned and left for his office. At which point Raj pulled out his phone to send a mass text to everyone he knew.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Victoria didn't wait for the guys after work, and made her way home on foot quickly, knowing that the tension in the car would be rather unbearable.

Luckily for her, Penny was still at work when she got home, so she could freely walk about the apartment without having to worry about giving away the fact she had practically pounced on Sheldon in her office.

She dropped her laptop bag on the couch and kicked off her shoes before flopping down into the cushions, and balancing her toes on coffee table. _'Oh what am I doing? Sheldon isn't a relationship kind of guy…'_

The phone rang, swiftly bringing her out of her reverie. With a groan, she stood and went over to the kitchen counter to answer it.

"Vicky! Leonard text me! You made out with Sheldon in your office!" She exclaimed in a high tone.

"What? How the hell does Leonard know?" She replied, tone equally high.

"Apparently Raj saw him come out of your office with lipstick on his mouth." Penny said. Victoria audibly slapped herself on the forehead.

"How the hell did I miss that?" She hissed, more to herself.

"I knew it was true! You dirty girl!" Penny said girlishly. "Oh shoot, I gotta get back to work. We need to talk when I get home." Victoria could hear the grin in Penny's voice.

With that, both women hung up, and Victoria made her way to her room to change into something more comfortable and cool, for Summer was fast approaching. She took of her shirt and skirt, and replaced them with a Batman tank top and a pair of denim shorts. As if on cue, the phone rang again.

"Jeez, am I running a call in center?" She huffed to herself before answering. "Hello?"

"Hello Victoria." It was Sheldon, the only person on this planet who called her Victoria.

"Hey Sheldon." A blush crept back onto her cheeks as she remembered the events of the earlier.

"As I'm sure you're aware, it is the 4th July this Saturday, on which we celebrate Independence Day."

"Yes, I am aware." Victoria said with a small smile at Sheldon's formality.

"Well, traditionally my family takes my late father's fishing boat down the Mississippi River to see the firework display, and after informing my mother of my recent closeness with you, she has rather insisted the I invite you to come with us."

Victoria's heart raced, they'd only known each other four months and been on one date, and he was inviting her to meet his family! She felt scared, nervous, and quite ecstatic.

"Well, only if you want me to Sheldon…" She said unsteadily, chewing her bottom lip.

"I would rather enjoy your company. Sufficed to say intelligent conversation would sure make time with my family far more bearable… And a repeat of the events of earlier today wouldn't go amiss." He said. Victoria smiled to herself; pleased he had not been put off by her forwardness.

"In that case I would love to. Tell your mother thank you very much."

"I shall. We're going to the Cheesecake Factory tonight for dinner if you're interested in coming."

"Of course. I'll meet you in the hall at 5:50pm?"

"Excellent, see you soon."

With that he hung up, and so did Victoria, before finally getting to sit down, uninterrupted.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Penny, I have no idea what I'm gonna wear this weekend." Victoria said as they stepped into yet another clothes shop. "What do you wear to meet a guy you've been on one date with's family?"

"Well, Sheldon's mom's really nice, so is his sister. So you don't really have to worry, how about a pretty summer dress?" Penny held up a floaty white number.

"Don't you think it's a little short?" She asked, and held it against herself.

"No, it's warm in Mississippi, and besides, the neckline comes up to your collar bone so it's not like it's inappropriate." Penny shrugged, speaking expertly about her prime subject.

They took it over to the surly looking girl at the cashier, who was ridiculously skinny and looked as if she hadn't had a carb in her life. She wore her hair in a tight blonde pony tale, and her eyes were smoky and cold.

"Hey, can I try this out?" Victoria asked, holding up the dress. The girl looked at the dress, and then at Victoria with a small smirk.

"I'm not sure that's really for you." She said with faux sweetness. Victoria's smile faltered and she looked down at her worn baggy Batman t-shirt and jeans. "Maybe you should try something moreyour size."

"Well she wants to try it out." Penny snapped defensively. "And I think it is for her, actually."

"Well, I'm the personal shopper here and you're wearing pink sweat shorts and I yellow vest." The girl snapped back.

"Oh, that is-" Penny flared up, but Victoria grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You know what Penny, I think the lady's right." Victoria said, the cogs in her mind whirring.

"What?" Penny hissed, turning her angry gaze onto Victoria.

"Yeah, I think I should try something more my size…" Victoria dropped the dress carelessly back onto the counter and picked up a tight red one she had seen before. "Yep, this looks good." Victoria sent a wink to Penny, before disappearing into the changing rooms.

Now, Victoria wasn't a cocky person, if anything she was rather modest about her looks. But when some little stick insect mocks her then she'd be willing to show her just how good she can look. Women don't like to admit when they're attractive, but Victoria had no illusions about her figure, sure she wouldn't mind losing a little off her thighs or tummy, but she knew she looked good. And having that curvy figure and buxom chest was still something that made other women green.

Victoria pulled off the clothes she was wearing, and replaced them with the tight halter neck dress, which hugged her every curve and exposed a tasteful amount of cleavage.

She smiled at her reflection, and emerged from the dressing room.

"What do you think, Pen?" She asked, doing a little turn, fully aware of the slight slack jaw of the personal shopper.

"You look amazing." Penny told her honestly, with a satisfied smirk at the girl. Victoria noticed other people in the store looking at her too, as well as a young man shopping with his girlfriend. She chuckled to herself.

"Nahh, I don't think this is really me. But I will take that little white dress I showed you before. Assuming you don't still have reservations about the _fit_." Victoria said with a smile, eyes challenging. The girl faltered, and glanced at her shoes before giving a defeated nod. To which Victoria grinned and turned back into the dressing room to change. _'Don't challenge me sweetheart, I'll take you down.'_

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …


	11. Chapter 11

**IMPORTANT: I'm prone to making mistakes, and I made one. The Mississippi River doesn't run anywhere near Galveston, so I'm changing the celebration somewhat. I hope too many of you don't get pissed off at me.**

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

It was a sweltering evening in Pasadena, every window in the apartment was thrown open, tempting in the none existent breeze. Summer seemed to be coming early this year, and the beers were in the cooler beside the girls on the bed, both occasionally holding the cold bottles against their sticky faces before cracking them open.

"Ready to be our bitches?" Victoria said, sitting cross-legged on her bed beside Penny, both with headsets on and controllers poised in front of them. It was around 9:30pm that Friday night, and Victoria had coaxed Penny into teaming up with her.

"No offense Vicky, but I don't think that you and Penny pose much of a threat to us." Howard said cockily as the countdown to the game began.

"Guywithoutadoctoratesayswhat?" Victoria quickly replied.

"What?" Howard replied confusedly, Victoria and Penny high fived, and Raj and Leonard could be heard laughing into their microphones. One of the many benefits of Halo 3 was that Raj could talk to them freely, as they weren't technically in the room.

"Oh snap." Sheldon said, in his characteristically Sheldonish tone.

The game began, and Penny's green character immediately hopped on a warthog, with Victoria on the back with the gun.

The game was nothing short of carnage on the girls' half. Penny was killed four times, Victoria three, whereas the boys averaged about ten kills apiece.

"Come on! They must be cheating!" Sheldon said, as the scoreboard came up.

"What's that Sheldon? I can't hear you from the bottom of the scoreboard." Penny said with a grin, and the girls' high fived once more.

"As you have proven your worth and mocked is accordingly, I suggest you get an early night Victoria as we will be leaving early in the morning." Sheldon said.

Victoria groaned.

"Yes, fine." She sighed. "Nighty night boys." I chorus of 'night's,' 'good nights,' and 'night night's,' came from the boys, before Victoria took off her head phones and dropped them on her bedside table.

"Well, orders are orders. G'night Penny."

Penny laughed. "Night Vicky. Good luck tomorrow with the family." With that, she left the room, and Victoria decided to sleep on top of her sheets.

…

Victoria awoke that morning with a start, a cold hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes groggily and jumped when she saw Sheldon leaning over her.

"Sheldon! You scared me." She said, her throat croaky.

"My apologies. But you said you'd get up early, and yet you're still in bed." He said. Victoria felt around for her glasses before putting them on.

"What time is it?" She sat up, and ran a hand through her hair, aware of how terrible she must look.

"6am." He said. Victoria frowned at him before falling back into her pillows.

"Come back in five hours." She said, muffled.

"I'm afraid I can't. We first have the fifteen minute drive to the airport, then the 2.5 hour flight to Galveston, where my mother will meet us and drive us back to my childhood home where we will spend the day and enjoy the street's fireworks at night. We will then return in the morning."

"Sounds lovely Sheldon, but I find it hard to give a crap at this time." Victoria replied, her voice still muffled by the pillow.

"Victoria I must insist." Sheldon said, and sat down on the bed.

"This isn't how I imagined the first time you'd be on my bed." Victoria grinned into the pillow, and Sheldon felt his ears heat up. He was already uncomfortable with her Wonder Woman boy shorts and revealing vest. Obviously because of the heat.

"Get up, Victoria." Sheldon said a little more sternly than before.

"Oooh, getting angry Sheldon?" Victoria teased, before opening one eye and looking up at him. "I kinda like it."

Sheldon blushed again, and looked at his lap.

Victoria laughed to herself and sat up. "Okay, okay. I'm getting up. Good morning Sheldon." She smiled. Sheldon looked back up at her, and was surprised at how attractive she was, even with messy hair and no makeup. Her lips, those fascinatingly soft lips were as pink as ever. He felt the urge to kiss her again, but ignored it.

"Good morning." He checked his watch. "It is now 6:06am, I'll return in twenty minutes at which point we will leave." Sheldon stood, and left her room. At which point Victoria quickly dressed in the pretty white dress she had bought, did her makeup elegantly, and twisted her hair at the front, before fastening it with a white flower.

Once perfectly happy with her reflection, she checked the time. _6:21am. _

"Finished with time to spare." She smiled to herself.

Deciding it was best not to awake Penny at that time on a Saturday, Victoria knelt down at the coffee table and wrote her a quick note;

_See you tomorrow Penny; call me if you need me. xxx _

She then picked up her overnight bag and left the apartment, where of course Sheldon was waiting in the hallway with his own bag. In honestly, he was rather surprised by the sight of her.

He'd seen her looking nice before but never so... Perfect. She perfectly suited the pretty white dress she wore which gently swayed when she moved, and was cinched in at her waist. Sheldon didn't know if he liked the way she made him feel, it was completely alien of him for his heart rate to increase at the mere sight of a girl in a pretty dress.

"Ready to go?" She said, with that stunning smile of hers.

"I've been ready for an hour." Sheldon said quietly, as they made their way downstairs.

…

The car ride to the airport was smooth, as was boarding, Sheldon complained a little about their seats, as behind them sat a woman and her baby. Victoria kicked off her shoes, as seemed to be a habit for her, and crossed her legs.

"You know, this plane ride is the perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other." Victoria suggested, becoming increasingly bored with the clouds outside the small window.

"Alright, I agree." Sheldon turned slightly in his chair. "How do you propose we do this?"

"Hmm…" Victoria chewed on the inside of her mouth. "We'll just ask each other honest questions, and make sure we give honest answers." She said eventually. "I'll start."

She put her hands on her knees ceremoniously and Sheldon braced himself for the first question.

"Okay, who is your favorite family member?" She asked, trying to break the ice with something like and easy."

"My Mee-Maw." He said without hesitation.

"Your Mee-Maw?" Victoria repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, my grandmother. On my mother's side. She sends me frequent letters." He said. "And you?"

"Also my grandmother on my mother's side." Victoria said honestly. "_Nonna Maria_." Her accent briefly flipped to Italian, and Sheldon found himself surprised.

"You're part Italian?" He questioned, completely shocked she hadn't mentioned it before.

"Yes, my mother lived in New York her whole life though. I inherited my dad's pale skin unfortunately for me." She chuckled.

"Why is it you never mentioned it before?"

"No reason, just didn't have an opportunity to bring it up, and I only speak Italian to my grandmother or when I'm angry. It's my question now anyway." Victoria shifted slightly in her seat.

"Why did you want to date me? From what Penny says you're not the dating type…"

Sheldon considered her for a moment.

"In honesty Victoria, I don't really know." He said, and she couldn't help but feel slightly hurt. Sheldon for once could read her facial expression, and knew he had accidentally upset her. "I don't mean that offensively. I, like many other men, am attracted to your physical beauty, your intelligence and oddly, your sense of humor. But there is something indescribable about you that makes you different from other women, and that makes me want to be with you." He tried to explain. Victoria smiled, understanding.

"That's so sweet and you don't even know it." She leaned over, and pecked his cheek. Again, Sheldon didn't mind. "Anyway, it's your question?"

"Alright…" Sheldon thought for a moment, and then asked a question that had been bugging him. "Do you still have any romantic feelings toward Wil Wheaton?"

Victoria pursed her lips. "No. I don't. Wil and I were in a relationship for six months, during that time we played a lot of video games and…" She lowered her voice. "Had a lot of sex. There wasn't that much romance involved. I thought I loved him for a while, but I wasn't as sad as I should've been that we broke up." She said, and sipped her Sprite. She didn't like to talk about her time with Wil… Not only did it bring back memories of a relationship which ended badly, but it also reminded her of how good Wil was in the sex department, but also he lack of sex for the passed six months.

Sheldon paused for a moment. "Do you find yourself dependent on sex?" He asked, Victoria choked on her drink, and looked around to see if anyone had heard.

"Sheldon!" She half whispered, half yelled.

"I'm sorry, was that an inappropriate question? I was given to understand this was an open conversation." Sheldon said.

"Okay, you're right, you're right." She set her drink down on the little table. "I wouldn't say I'm dependent on it, but once you've done it once you certainly get a taste for it." She explained.

"I wouldn't know." He said.

Victoria did a slight double take. "Have… Have you never had sex?" She asked, out of pure nosiness, and intrigue. Sheldon shook his head.

"Jesus." Victoria said, and shook her head slightly.

"Please refrain from blaspheming when we get to my house. My mother will hit you round the head with a bible." Sheldon warned, completely oblivious to how incredulous she was about Sheldon's virginity.

"Sheldon…" She said. "Why have you never had sex?"

"Well, I've always found the idea of sexual intercourse rather repulsive. Of course the thought of relieving one's sexual urges is rather appealing, I have never met nor seen a woman I would want to do that with, nor has anyone wanted to do it with me."

"Oh, don't be so sure." Victoria mumbled to herself.

"What?" He asked, not having heard her.

"Nothing, nothing." She smiled brightly. "I took your question anyway, now you get two."

Sheldon thought for a moment. "Are you attracted to me?" He asked, and glanced out of the window, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Victoria smiled and bit her lip. 'Yes,' was the honest answer, she was very attracted to him.

"Do you want me to be attracted to you?" She asked, unable to meet his eye.

"Yes, I think I do." He said honestly. She looked up at him now, suddenly realizing their proximity, and the blueness of his eyes.

"Well, I am. That's why I agreed to go on a date with you, that's why I kissed you." She said, and leaned on the arm rest a bit so they were closer.

"I…" Sheldon began, feeling slightly nervous of what he was about to say, as he was aware of how close their faces were. "I enjoy kissing you." He told her. Victoria felt her heart pleasantly flutter.

"I enjoy kissing you too…" She quietly replied, and leaned in closer to him.

"Please fasten your seatbelts, and prepare for landing." They hastily moved away from each other.

'_God damn it.' _


	12. Author's Note

I'm incredibly sorry if you enjoy this story and thought this was a long overdue update but I'm going to have to disappoint you.

This is by far my most popular story and it is so lovely when people read and enjoy your stuff but I have to admit I started a new account and my writing style has really changed and (hopefully) improved since I wrote this story. Looking back I'm really unimpressed with the vast majority of the stuff I wrote on this account so I've had to purge it slightly and get rid of stuff but I couldn't really bring myself to do it with this one just because people seem to really like it.

In complete honesty, I can't see ever continuing with this story, not only have I fallen out of love with the story itself but also the show. Maybe inspiration will strike one day and I'll just decide to finish it off somehow.

I really didn't want to just leave this hanging without an explanation so there.

Thank you for reading. xxx


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